


As I Lay Listening

by epaynter



Series: A Collection of Unrelated Prompts for a Captain, his Professor, and their Detective [4]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Prompt Fic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23553613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epaynter/pseuds/epaynter
Summary: Raymond reads a little portion of Faulkner aloud to Kevin after readying for bed.
Relationships: Kevin Cozner/Ray Holt
Series: A Collection of Unrelated Prompts for a Captain, his Professor, and their Detective [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674865
Comments: 12
Kudos: 82





	As I Lay Listening

Kevin had already tucked himself into their bed in a thin white shirt with corgi pajama bottoms (it’s one of two matching pairs both he and Raymond received at Christmas- courtesy of a certain boyish detective) when his husband- wearing the other set of matching pajamas, his including the strange shirt which depicted a large cartoon corgi head and glittered eyes- rounds the corner of their bedroom doorway with a small tattered novel in his hands.

"I hope the shirt you have on doesn’t shed, Raymond, or we’re going to wake up looking similar to the aftermath of a pride parade."

He looks absolutely absurd, Kevin thinks. The little glittered dog eyes glisten in the overhead lighting as he walks, serious-faced, to his side of their mattress.

"I put it through the washer to ensure it wouldn’t. No need to worry," Raymond responds simply, placing the book on his nightstand.

"And the state of our washer is?"

"Undetermined," He admits after a brief pause of thought, "I took it out without considering the effects it might have on the washer. I’m sure it’s fine. Look how glittery it remains."

 _Absurd- wonderfully absurd._ Kevin stifles a smile as the ridiculous man points to his chest, "No need to indicate where. I’m sure Cheddar can see it clearly from his dog bed as well. What do you have for us tonight?"

The world is currently a chaotic, nightmarish uncertainty where home had become a constant and Raymond had taken up reading to him nightly as a result. Kevin had, in the past, requested him to do so but the occurrence had always come about on a much less routine basis. Their schedules never allowed them an abundance of routine. He had always cherished the little amount it did.

"On tonight’s agenda is _As I Lay Dying_ by-"

"-William Faulkner," Kevin interjects, "Sorry, thrilling choice. I haven't read it in an eon."

"I thought it might cause such a reaction," Raymond says. He is pleased, Kevin can tell, there is a slight shift in his posture as Raymond climbs into bed next to him. His captain can be incredibly easy to flatter at times, "Shall I?"

"I couldn’t be more ready."

The tale begins and his voice rumbles the narrative in an entirely new light. There is nothing quite like the voice of Raymond Jacob Holt. He is no actor, the dialogue always remains perfectly static throughout (with perhaps, subtle shifts in tone but nothing too dramatic), that isn’t the area in which he thrives.

" _It is dark. I can hear wood, silence: I know them. But not living sounds, not_ _even him._ "

It is in the tempo, the enunciation, and the delivery that his voice truly brings words to life. Kevin already has a shiver unfurling at the base of his neck trailing in a spiral motion down his spine to the small of his back.

" _It is as though the dark were resolving him out of his integrity, into an unrelated scattering of components—snuffings and stampings;_ "

The combination of these two interests- his husband and Faulkner- is almost euphoric. For the state of the world, Kevin can easily lose himself in the baritone. He watches the brown eyes flicker across the page, mouth in tandem.

" _an illusion of a coordinated whole of_ _splotched hide and strong bones within which, detached and secret and_ _familiar, an is different from my is._ "

"You’re beautiful."

Kevin can’t help but say, in a rush of emotion. He could spend a thousand years trapped inside their house with only this man and their tiny dog and he is sure that alone would keep him sane. That alone is a fairly insane thought.

Raymond looks caught off guard, his reading glasses are reflecting the warm artificial light, so Kevin isn’t entirely certain.

"Are you referring to me or Mr. Faulkner?"

"I don’t think I would _ever_ refer to William Faulkner as beautiful per se, so I won’t bother trying to tease you into believing otherwise at the defense of my own personal taste in men."

"Fair point," Raymond replies.

He reminds Kevin, just for a moment, of a peacock satisfied with his own demonstration. A trait most partners would find irritating, he found it incalculably charming. It felt _honest_. It made complimenting Raymond a habit he can never tire of doing.

Kevin leans his head against his husband’s shoulder, "Sorry for interrupting. Continue, please."

" _I see him dissolve—legs, a rolling eye, a gaudy splotching like cold flames—and float upon the dark in fading solution; all one yet neither; all either yet none. I can see hearing coil toward him, caressing, shaping his hard shape—fetlock, hip, shoulder and head; smell and sound. I am not afraid._ "

Kevin can detect, within the ever consistent tempo, a warmth in the narrative as Raymond reads on.

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous prompt: Holt and Kevin reading in bed.
> 
> I took some inspiration from Dan Goor's wonderful little segment about Holt during quarantine. The italicised quotes are from 'As I Lay Dying' by William Faulkner (It is not the beginning of the novel, granted, nor is it a particularly wholesome quote but I thought it fit the contrast of safe moment within a dark time). I love writing about the mundane moments in life, it makes me feel very happy. Stay at home.


End file.
